Peanut Butter Cup Pretzel Cheesecake Bars

Thick peanut butter cheesecake filling on top of a salty pretzel crust, stuffed with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and a chocolate drizzle on top.

I’m really sorry for doing this to you today. Really, I am.

Apparently I’m all over the place this week. Sunday night I treated myself to a Wendy’s Frosty. Yesterday I made a large detox smoothie. Today I’m stuffing my face with peanut butter cup cheesecake bars.

If there is such a thing as dessert A.D.D. – I have it.

I adore the combination of peanut butter, chocolate, and pretzels. A-DORE. I have plenty of recipes on this website filled with desserts combining the three! It’s the perfect trio. Salty, sweet, chocolatey, crunchy, peanut buttery, decadent.

I probably love cheesecake as much as I love peanut butter (yes, it’s true!), and these scrumptious bars have been on my to-do list for ages. They will totally blow your diet, but they are worth every single minute on the treadmill!

You’re going to start with a pretzel crust. Yes, a buttery crust made from pretzels! Crushed pretzels, sugar, and melted butter. Told you – this is not diet food! You’ll need 1.5 cups of crushed pretzels, which is about 3 cups of actual pretzels. Grind the pretzels up as much as you can. And make sure no one is sleeping in your house when you do so. Hard pretzels in a food processor is L-O-U-D. Sorry I woke you up, Kevin. 😉

The pretzel crust is sort of crumbly. There’s no way around it. Pretzels cannot be ground up as finely as graham crackers, so just expect a few crumbs when you cut into and bite into these bars. Have a napkin handy!

The cheesecake filling is easy peasy. Cream cheese, egg, sugar, vanilla extract, and creamy peanut butter. Beat all that together until smooth and mix in several Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (the more, the merrier!). Pour on top of your pretzel crust. Bake for 30ish minutes. Chill the bars for 3 hours before cutting into squares. Waiting is torture. Pure torture.

A little chocolate drizzle is the cherry on top, no? Melt a few chocolate chips with some peanut butter (yep, more peanut butter), and drizzle on top of each cheesecake bar. The drizzle is completely optional, but I never say no to more chocolate and peanut butter.

These cheesecake bars are so good it’s scary. If you do NOT like sweet and salty desserts, this recipe is not for you. The crust is made from salty pretzels, so yes – the crust will be salty! The peanut butter cheesecake filling is undoubtedly the creamiest cheesecake on the planet. And there’s enough peanut butter cups mixed inside the filling to make my No-Bake Reese’s Bars jealous.

What I love most about these bars is how thick the filling is. You won’t even believe it will fit into a tiny 8×8 pan. It will practically fill the entire pan. These bars are so thick and monstrous. It’s glorious. They’re crunchy, creamy, salty, sweet, and dangerously addicting. Quite frankly, I think I found my new favorite dessert! And yours, too. 😉

Follow me on Instagram and tag #sallysbakingaddiction so I can see all the SBA recipes you make. ♥

Chocolate Drizzle

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line bottom and sides of an 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.

For the crust: In a food processor or blender, pulse salty pretzels into a fine crumb. See photo above for how it will look. Stir the pretzel crumbs, sugar, and melted butter together in a medium sized bowl. Press evenly into the lined pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to slightly cool as you prepare the filling.

For the filling: Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla extract together with a hand or stand mixer until smooth and creamy, about 3 full minutes. Fold in the chopped Reese's cups and spread the mixture over crust. Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until the cheesecake has set up and the edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool completely in the refrigerator for at least three hours. Lift the foil out of the pan and cut into squares.

For the drizzle: Melt the peanut butter and chocolate chips together in a small bowl in the microwave. Stir until smooth and drizzle over squares.

Store bars in a covered container for up to 10 days in the refrigerator. Recipe can easily be doubled and baked in a 9x13-inch pan, baking time will vary - about 45-55 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line bottom and sides of an 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.

For the crust: In a food processor or blender, pulse salty pretzels into a fine crumb. See photo above for how it will look. Stir the pretzel crumbs, sugar, and melted butter together in a medium sized bowl. Press evenly into the lined pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to slightly cool as you prepare the filling.

For the filling: Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla extract together with a hand or stand mixer until smooth and creamy, about 3 full minutes. Fold in the chopped Reese's cups and spread the mixture over crust. Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until the cheesecake has set up and the edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool completely in the refrigerator for at least three hours. Lift the foil out of the pan and cut into squares.

For the drizzle: Melt the peanut butter and chocolate chips together in a small bowl in the microwave. Stir until smooth and drizzle over squares.

Store bars in a covered container for up to 10 days in the refrigerator. Recipe can easily be doubled and baked in a 9x13-inch pan, baking time will vary - about 45-55 minutes.

You detoxed cuz you knew these were coming right? You really did it this time! Thai is like my yummy peanut butter pretzels mixed with cheesecake and chocolate. I love pretzel crusts and everything in here. Gotta pin this and make it soon!

Okay, you made these for me. Peanut butter and pretzels in cheesecake? With Reeses?!?!?! I can’t even. Oh my word these look incredible. This just might be my new favorite Sally creation. How did you not eat the whole pan? Totally would need your detox smoothie after making (read: eating all of) this!

lalalalalaloooooooove the pretzel crust! i now wanna pretzel crust EVERYTHING. The combo of peanut butter and cheesecake with the crust… oh my word, i’m dying. especially because i’m supposedly on a “diet.” although I made gooey cookies today and ate two. 🙂

I saw these on pinterest and rushed over before I even read the caption. These look and sound amazing. I am a huge fan of cheesecake (not to mention pb and chocolate and pretzels) so I know I will love these – added to my list!

You said it–chocolate, peanut butter and pretzels! Ugghh, I LOVE that combo so much too, and the second I saw a photo of these, I knew they were going to be one of my favorites. Thick sweet and salty crust, thick creamy filling–to die for!

Hi Sally-
Fairly new to your site. LOVE it! Have drooled over many of your recipes. I made these Peanut Butter Cup Pretzel Cheesecake Bars yesterday – one word – Decadent! My kids want to nominate me for Mother of the Year now that they’ve tasted these. Thank You for all your hard work and creativity.

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I’m Sally, a cookbook author, photographer, and blogger. My goal is to give you the confidence and knowledge to cook and bake from scratch while providing quality recipes and plenty of pictures. Grab a cookie, take a seat, and have fun exploring! more about Sally